The present invention relates to a slider for a double-sided slide fastener with an automatic locking mechanism that is configured by individually attaching pull-tabs, which can cause a slider to perform a sliding operation backward and forward, to both the front surface and the rear surface of the body of the slider, that can perform an opening operation and a closing operation from outside and inside, and that can stop and fix the slider at and to a given place.
There is a related-art double-sided double-pull-tab slider that is configured to have two pull-tabs 100, 101 respectively provided on the front side and the rear side of a slider body 102, as follows (refer to JP-UM-Y2-56-37606). That is, as illustrate in FIG. 12, a swinging element 103 having a locking pawl 105 and a link member 106, which are respectively protrudingly provided at one end thereof and at the other end thereof, is fit into the body so that the link member 106 and the locking pawl 105 are fit into a forward-side portion and a backward-side portion at the front surface side of the body, i.e., a shoulder portion 107 and a back portion 108. Another swinging element 104 having only a link member 106 protrudingly provided at one end thereof without being provided with a locking pawl at the other end thereof is fit into the rear surface side of the body 102. The upper and lower link members 106 are associated with each other by being inserted into a groove hole 123 bored in a guide post 109 so as to penetrate therethrough. When the front-side pull-tab 100 is pulled, the upper swinging element 103 is pulled up so as to retreat the locking pawl 105 from an element guide groove 110. When the rear-side pull-tab 101 is pulled, the lower swinging element 104 is pulled up so as to simultaneously press the upper swinging element 103 and as to retreat the locking pawl 105 from the element guide groove 110. Also, there has been known a pull-tab turn type slider configured, as follows (refer to JP-A-2003-93116). That is, as illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, a U-shaped guide member 113 is provided in a body 112 so that a pull-tab 111 can turn along the forward surface of each of an upper plate, a lower plate, and a guide post 114 of the body 112. A U-shaped pull-tab guide portion 115 is provided along the inner side of the U-shaped guide member 113. One pull-tab 111 is turnably mounted in the pull-tab guide portion 115. A protruding piece 118 of a locking member 116 is inserted into an elongated hole 121 provided in the U-shaped guide member 113. Then, the pull-tab 111 is pulled along the pull-tab guide portion 115 of the U-shaped guide member 113 to a shoulder side (the left side, as viewed in FIG. 14) of the body 112. At that time, the U-shaped guide member 113 pushes a spring 122 incorporated in the body 112 by a hook piece 119 of the locking member 116 so as to retreat the locking pawl 117 of the locking member 116 from an element guide groove 120. Thus, the slider body 112 can be slid backward and forward.
The double-sided double-pull-tab slider, which has been described and illustrated in FIG. 12, is configured so that the locking pawl 105 is retreated from the element guide groove 110 through the swinging element 103 (104), to which the pull-tab 100 (101) is attached, so as to slide the slider. Therefore, the number of components of the slider is large. The structure of the slider is complex. Especially, when the pull-tab 101 provided at the rear surface side of the body 102 is operated, the locking pawl 105 is retreated and slid through the swinging element 104. Thus, an operation of releasing the front-side locking mechanism by the front-side pull-tab 100 at the front surface side of the slider differs from that of releasing the rear-side locking mechanism by the rear-side pull-tab 101 at the rear surface side thereof. Precision is required to operate both the front-side locking mechanism and the rear-side locking mechanism at the same efficiency. The double-sided double-pull-tab slider illustrated in FIG. 12 has a problem in this regard.
The pull-tab turn type sliders illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14 are convenient when the single pull-tab 111 is operated by being turned frontwardly and rearwardly. However, the pull-tab turn type sliders illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14 are inconvenient when it is necessary to operate a fastener chain individually from the outside and the inside thereof. For example, when an operation of closing a fastener chain is performed from the outside of a doorway of a tent, the pull-tab 111 is placed outside the tent. Thus, an operation of opening the fastener chain from the inside of the tent cannot be performed. The pull-tab turn type sliders illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14 have a problem in this regard.